


Still

by mezzosaka



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, i wrote this listening to ed's new album and feeling nostalgic, it's very vague my dudes, they share a bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 12:17:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10100282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mezzosaka/pseuds/mezzosaka
Summary: N O S T A L G I A「a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations」—In which Keito can't get those nights out of his head.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I just keep feeling emotional about Reito all the time and for different reasons. This is the first fic I finished so far and actually felt good enough about to post. Please enjoy.
> 
> Recommended listening: I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab for Cutie, How Would You Feel (Paean) by Ed Sheeran

"Keito."

The room was nearly quiet before then. All Keito could hear was the whirring of the air conditioning and the chirps of the cicadas. He could hear Rei's airy breaths in the bed next to him, and occasionally the sounds of blankets moving as people shifted in their sleep beyond the thin screen. The full moon through the window shed some light in the room, but Keito didn't care for what was inside. He's been looking at the stars for the while as he's been trying to sleep, and he's been perfectly content doing that.

Which is probably why he responds to Rei with a soft "What?" instead of getting annoyed.

Probably.

"I can't sleep."

Keito shifts his focus from the window to Rei. The moon illuminates the high points of his face: his nose, his cheekbones, his forehead, his lips. The rest is cast in shadow, just like Rei's own character. He lets people see what he wants them to see and subtly leaves the rest hidden. It's almost natural.

Almost.

"Me neither," Keito says. He studies Rei's thin nose rather than looking him in the eyes. "It's too cold."

"Too cold?" I thought it was a bit too hot." Rei half shrugs. Sure, the room is humid, but the thin sheet given doesn't provide the same amount of comfort that a blanket does. "Can I ask you something?"

Keito glances at Rei's eyes for just a moment, just a fleeting moment, before lying on his back and staring at the ceiling, the window just in the corner of his vision. Rei, too, just in the corner. "Fine."

"Hm..."

"Ask it," Keito says, a bit too fast. "Or I'll rescind my offer."

"I didn't think you'd let me ask, so I'm thinking now." Rei laughs a little, almost hardly there.

It's nights like these that remind Keito of what used to be. What they used to be. Before... Well, what they used to be before it happened. They weren't quite together. They spent summer nights just like these flirting around the edges of a romance, spending nights doing things they weren't supposed to do, spending nights sneaking out and having fun, spending nights alone together on the pier, spending nights kissing each other goodbye on the cheek before either of them were ready to leave. They never truly, fully kissed, and Keito thinks that if they had, things would have been different.

Rei's question rings in Keito's ears. "Do you hate me?"

It both jars Keito out of his thoughts and brings him back all at once. He can't remember exactly at which point he started to hate Rei, but thinking about it makes him realize he doesn't anymore. Not really. He just has to act like it, that's all. To protect himself. Because he can't get hurt again, because he can't fall so in love with a person only to suddenly stop getting anything in return. He doesn't have the energy anymore. Back then was different, but now... Now Keito doesn't even have enough energy to keep up with himself.

"No," he says, and he keeps it simple so he won't end up pouring his feelings out. Tonight isn't like one of those old, lovestruck summer nights. "Goodnight."

And he turns over, away from Rei, away from the window.

And he pretends not to feel Rei's arm slipping around his waist. He pretends not to hear Rei confessing that he doesn't really hate him either. He pretends that he doesn't turn around and press his face into Rei's chest and breathe in his scent once more.

And he pretends that he can't feel his heart picking up speed.

And he pretends they aren't each other's serotonin.

And he pretends they don't sleep like that tonight.

And the room is quiet.

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: @mezzosaka  
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
